


Awareness

by OreoLuvr13



Series: The Gallagher Band of Strays [3]
Category: Shameless (US)
Genre: A little smut in the beginning, Domestic Ian Gallagher/Mickey Milkovich, Family Feels, Fluff, Gallavich, Kev's words of wisdom, M/M, Sick Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-06
Updated: 2020-09-06
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:14:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,662
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26323225
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OreoLuvr13/pseuds/OreoLuvr13
Summary: Mickey is not stupid. He knows that since he and Ian got married, his life has become intertwined with all of the Gallaghers. That’s marriage, right? But it’s mostly random moments. Like when he picks up Franny from Head Start because she’s sick and Ian is in the middle of a 24 hour shift. Or that time when he hands over his last twenty to Liam so that he can get something to eat on his field trip. He's not aware of the hold the younger Gallaghers have on him until Liam ends up in the hospital with appendicitis.
Relationships: Ian Gallagher/Mickey Milkovich, Liam Gallagher & Mickey Milkovich
Series: The Gallagher Band of Strays [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1621351
Comments: 9
Kudos: 322





	Awareness

**Author's Note:**

> I know it’s been awhile since I added to this series, but I had this idea for a while now and it just wouldn’t let up. I hope you all enjoy!

Mickey is in the middle of a good dream. Ian’s lips are wrapped around his dick. Tongue over the head of his cock, his hand massaging Mickey’s balls. Scratch that. This is an amazing dream. Ian looks up at him, his mouth slipping off making a popping noise. He opens his mouth…

“Ian…Ian…”

Why is Ian saying his own name?

“Ian…you awake?”

Wait…why does Ian sound like he’s ten?

Mickey jerks awake suddenly eyes roaming around their darken bedroom. Ian isn’t between his legs. He’s sleeping on his side, back facing Mickey and still dead to the world.

“Ian!” a voice calls from the other side of the bed.

Mickey’s eyes falls to the small figure standing beside Ian’s side of the bed. Liam. Christ. He adjusts himself so that his painful hard on is pushed into the mattress. The kid doesn’t need to see that. At least he and Ian had enough brains to put on underwear before they fell asleep.

Liam lets out a pained moan when Ian remains dead to the world. Mickey shakes his head. He and Ian both had terrible childhoods, but their sleep patterns are completely opposite. Where Mickey is a light sleeper and awakes suddenly at every creak in the floorboards when Carl sneaks in late or Liam gets up early to study for a test, Ian sleeps like the dead.

Something is bothering the kid. Liam is a smartass. Too much like Lip in Mickey’s opinion and sees the good in people when he probably shouldn’t. He still hasn’t written Frank off yet. But the one thing Liam is not, is a complainer. Liam never comes into theIr bedroom this late at night. He took after Ian with his ability to sleep through anything.

Mickey slaps Ian hard on the shoulder.

“Fuck, Mickey.” Ian says sleepily into his pillow. “is late.”

“Kid,” Mickey says with another slap, pointing to the side of the bed. “Liam’s been calling your name for a damn hour.”

That seems to do the trick, Ian is sitting up in a flash, switching the light on the bedside table on.

“Fuck, Gallagher!” Mickey says, covering his eyes. “Fuckin’ warn me next time you’re gonna blind me.”

Ian ignores him. All his attention is on his brother. He frowns when his hand touches his brother’s forehead. “I think your fever went up. Your stomach still hurting? Did you throw up again?”

Liam woke up with a stomach ache in the morning, well yesterday morning, and ended up staying home from school. Luckily, Ian had the day off. Which was a good thing because the kid only got worse as the day went on. He developed a fever and the nausea spiraled into actual vomiting. When Mickey came home from work, Liam listlessly greeted him from the couch, before returning his fever bright eyes to the tv screen.

“Liam, did you throw up again?” Ian asks, patting the bed for the kid to sit down.

Mickey looks over at Liam and winces when he sees the kid’s ashen face. “Give the kid a second to answer, Jesus Ian.”

Liam sits down and turns his body towards his brother. “My stomach hurts really bad. It’s worse than this morning,” Liam says.

Mickey winces when he hears the tears in Liam’s voice.

“Where, buddy?” Ian asks gently. Probably in the voice he uses when he’s on a call with a kid or some old person.

“He already fuckin’ told you, his stomach.” Mickey curses.

“Shut up, Mickey.” Ian says, running a hand over his brother’s warm cheek. “Where in your stomach, Liam? Here or here?” Ian asks as he points to different parts of his own stomach.

“Now it’s in my side,” Liam says as he moves even closer to his brother. “But this morning it was near my belly button.”

Being just inches away from his husband, he can feel when Ian’s body tenses at his brother’s confession.

“Okay, bud. Stay here.” Ian says getting up from bed, grabbing a pair of basketball shorts from the floor. “I’m getting you some clothes to change into. Then I’m going to wake up Carl and tell him we’re going to the hospital.”

“The hospital?” Liam squeaks.

“Yeah, I’m with the kid. The hospital? Really, Ian?” Mickey asks.

They don’t do hospitals. The walk-in clinic, yes. And even those times are few and far between.

The kid has a stomach bug. Or worst case maybe he ate something bad from the school’s cafeteria. Does it really warrant a trip to the ER?

Just as he’s about to ask that, Ian shoots him a look. His eyes are all serious and determined. Like how they were back when they did that obstacle course on that roof all those years ago when he was training for West Point.

This is serious.

Liam lets out a pitiful moan as the crackers and the soup Ian convinced him to eat for dinner make a second appearance.

Liam, the politest kid Mickey knows, doesn’t even attempt an apology as he sits on their bed with a puddle of puke in his lap. That and the look Ian shoots him is what scares him. Mickey jumps up, grabbing a pair of jeans that’s at the bottom of the bed. “You guys stay here. I’ll get Liam some clothes and tell Carl that he has to watch Little Red for a bit.”

**XXXXX**

“What the hell is taking so long?!” Mickey says leaning his head back against the wall.

“He only went up about an hour ago,” a tired Ian replies. “They’re doing it laparoscopically, so he should be in surgery for about an hour. We’ve only been here a couple of hours.”

It may only be a couple of hours in reality, but it feels like it’s been so much longer. Once Ian decided they needed to go to the ER, it took way too long to get Liam cleaned up, changed, and into the car. With Mickey driving, Ian sat in the back with Liam basically sitting in his older brother’s lap. Mickey sped the whole way to the hospital. His foot pushing down on the gas a bit harder every time Ian’s gentle assurances to Liam that he was going to be okay were drowned out by Liam’s pain filled moans. Fifteen agonizing minutes later they finally arrived at the nearest hospital, Mickey leading the way and Ian carrying his brother into the hospital in a bridal carry.

“How can you be so calm about this?” Mickey hisses. “He’s your brother.”

Ian turns to him smiling smugly. “Somebody has to be the calm one. You’ve been losing your shit since we got in the car. I thought you were going to punch the doctor when Liam began to cry when he was examining him.”

“He was hurting him,” Mickey says. “I thought doctors were supposed to help people. Not hurt them.”

Ian grabs his husband’s hand. “Liam is going to be fine. We got him here before his appendix ruptured and before any complications could set in. Besides, he’s a Gallagher. It’s going to take more than appendicitis to keep him down.”

Mickey squeezes Ian’s fingers. “You’re right. The kid is going to be fine.” He thinks about how calm Ian was when the doctor examined Liam and how he was able to quickly answer the doctor’s questions. While Mickey paced the small ER cubicle anxiously while waiting for the doctor to make an appearance. Shooting the nurse an angry look when Liam cried out when the IV was inserted. Ian giving Mickey dirty looks from across the kid’s gurney. _Cool your shit._

He lets out a laugh.

“You okay, Mick?” Ian asks.

“Yeah, I… I was thinking how the fuck did this happen. How the hell did I become the overdramatic one in this marriage.”

Ian cuts off his husband’s laughter with a kiss on the lips. “Thanks for being here, Mick.”

“What can I say, I have a soft spot for the kid.” Ian gives him a shit eating grin. No doubt taking pleasure in the fact that Mickey has gone soft.

Soon they both fall asleep. Mickey with his head against the wall. Ian with his head on his husband’s shoulder. Once again, it’s Mickey who wakes up first to the sound of approaching footsteps. He nudges the younger man awake “Ian? Wake up. The doc is here.”

Ian shakes himself awake. “How’s he doing, Dr. Juarez?”

Despite the late hour, Dr. Juarez smiles at them. “Liam is doing well. We were able to remove his appendix laparoscopically. He’s in recovery now but will be moved into a room in the pediatrics ward in a few hours. Barring any complications, I think Liam will be able to go home in the next couple of days.”

The couple let out twin sighs of relief.

“Thanks, doc.” Ian says.

“My pleasure. One of the nurses will let you know when you can go up and see Liam. Until then my best suggestion is to get some rest.” The doctor says before excusing herself to go see another patient.

“I told you he was going to be fine,” Ian says, leaning in to kiss Mickey on the cheek.

Mickey shoves him away before leaning into the kiss, “Shud up.”

**XXXXX**

Mickey wakes up to the sun coming through the cheap shades in Liam’s hospital room. He tries to rub the exhaustion from his eyes to no avail. He’s fucking exhausted. He looks at his watch. It’s 9:47. No wonder why he’s still so tired. They weren’t allowed in to see Liam until almost 8.

At least Liam and Ian are still sleeping. Lucky fuckers.

“Hey!” a familiar voice stage whispers.

Mickey turns around to see Kev standing in the doorway.

“Hey, man.”

Kev steps further into the room. He tilts his head towards Liam’s hospital bed. “How’s Liam?”

Mickey looks to the kid who is still sleeping soundly. Kid only woke once since he and Ian got here, but he quickly fell back asleep when Ian ran a hand over his cheek, telling him he was okay and that he and Mickey are there. The kid hasn’t stirred since. “He’s doing good. Doc said he should be able to go home tomorrow.”

“That’s great man!”

Mickey throws his neighbor a dirty look. “Can you please try not to wake the kid up. It’s been a long ass night.”

Kev holds up his hands in apology. “Sorry.” Then he looks Mickey up and down. “Man you look like crap.”

Mickey rolls his eyes. “I would love to see how you would look after spending all night in the ER with one of your girls.” Kev smiles at him. “What the fuck you smiling at?”

Ian begins to stir at the conversation going on in the room. “Mornin’ guys.”

“Hey,” Kev says.

Ian kisses Mickey good morning. “You look exhausted. Did you sleep at all?”

“A little,” Mickey says. Ian doesn’t need to know that Mickey waited close to an hour after they were let in to finally let himself relax enough to fall asleep. When he was satisfied that Liam wouldn’t wake up again in pain.

“I’m going to get some coffee. You want anything?” Mickey asks.

“I’ll have the same.”

Mickey stands up. “I’ll get the kid some pudding. Chocolate.” The kid’s favorite. How the hell did he remember that?

“Thanks, Mick.” Ian says before turning his attention back to his brother.

Mickey and Kev begin to make their way down to the cafeteria. The younger man lets out a loud yawn.

“Long night, huh?” Kev asks.

“Got that right,” Mickey says. “You get Franny off to school okay?”

Once Liam was settled into his room, Ian sent Vee a text telling her about last night's excitement and asked her if she could see Franny off to school. Carl has come along way over the years, but he can barely get himself out of the house in the morning. Let alone a four year old.

Kev nods. “Vee went over to your place this morning. Stopped Carl from giving her an icecream sandwich for breakfast. And got her into normal clothes. She was wearing her Halloween costume when Vee walked in.”

“Christ,” Mickey says, rubbing his forehead tiredly. “Fucking Carl.”

Kev lets out a snort. “You doing okay, Mickey?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” Mickey asks as they enter the cafeteria.

“Carl said you were pretty worked up last night.”

“Well, Carl has a big mouth,” Mickey says as he looks through the pudding cups, grabbing two chocolate.

“True,” Kev says grabbing a muffin. “But I would understand it if you were. Seeing your kid sick or in pain is one of the worst things.”

“Yeah but Liam ain’t my kid.”

“He might as well be,” Kev says. “With Fiona off doing her own thing. Lip having his own kid and Debbie locked up and Frank being Frank, Ian and you are the closest thing to parents Liam and Franny have.”

“I’m no damn parent.”

“I’ll tell you something,” Kev says, leaning in closer. “Yes, you are.”

Mickey lets out sarcastic laugh. Grabbing a couple of paper cups. “What the fuck you talking about?”

“You already are. You are so doing all the parenty shit,” Kev says, smirking. “Liam’s science fair award ceremony.”

“So? They have free food,” Mickey says filling a cup with coffee.

“That time you high-fived Franny after she hit that kid in her class.”

“She deserved it. The little bitch was taking her apple slices on her,” Mickey says adding in the milk and sugar.

“I know that asshole co-worker of Carl’s is now walking with a limp for the rest of his life.” 

“Some people just have shitty luck. At the wrong place at the wrong time,” Mickey explains, putting a lid on his cup of coffee.

“You staying here all night with Ian and Liam.”

Mickey struggles with the lid for Ian’s. “That’s the worst.”

Kev nods. “When you hear people talk about being a parent, you hear about the good stuff. The hugs, smiles, and all that shit. No one talks about the hard parts. The sleepless nights. The tantrums. And seeing your kid sick and in pain is probably the hardest part of being a parent. Yeah Liam might not be yours by blood, but he is your kid. Last night just proves it.”

Mickey nods as they make their way to the register.

“Being there and not running away when you want to, makes you a parent, Mickey. Frank didn’t bring Liam here last night. Neither did Fiona or Lip. That was all you and Ian.”

Maybe Mickey is sleep deprived and now that the anxiety of last night has been dialed down, he lets what Kev said sink in. Maybe he is right. As strange and unorthodox as his and Ian’s relationship is with his husband’s youngest siblings and niece, it works. Where he would try and avoid his house when he was growing up, in an attempt to stay clear of his father, he actually looks forward to going home now. To Ian. To Liam sitting at the table with the week’s worth of assignments sprawled all over the place. To Franny being hocked up on sugar, running all over the house until she crashes on the kitchen floor. To Carl nearly catching the lawn on fire as he grills dinner on his night to cook.

And as much as he bitches about it. Deep down, he knows he really loves it. Because it’s his family. Christ. The Gallaghers are his fucking family. That Liam is Ian’s and his kid in all the ways that count. When the fuck did this happen?

With their food paid for, they make their way to the elevator. “Let’s get back to your kid,” Kev says. Mickey doesn’t argue, smiling as he hits the floor number to the pediatric floor.

**Author's Note:**

> So I have it in my head as Ian being the cooler and more collective parent during a crisis with his EMT and military training. While Mickey would be more of the hothead. Much like we saw in the season ten finale.


End file.
